Mississippi insurance losses from Isaac much smaller than Katrina claims

Sep. 20, 2012

Linda Lewellen surveys the water-soaked remnants of much of her belongings outside her home in Picayune's Westchester subdivision that was flooded during Hurricane Isaac. Lewellen lives on disability and had no flood insurance. / Pat Sullivan/Special to The Clarion-Ledger

Written by

The Associated Press

Private insurers expect to pay more than $24.3 million in claims in Mississippi as a result of Hurricane Isaac, Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney says.

Chaney says that as of Wednesday, Mississippi's 21 largest insurers had received 9,400 claims and paid $8.6 million.

That's tiny compared to Hurricane Katrina's $41 billion in insured damage nationwide. Isaac is expected to cause up to $2 billion in losses in areas it passed through.

At least another 8,000 Isaac claims are expected to be filed, the Insurance Department says. The number doesn't include claims in the federal flood insurance program or crop insurance.

Of private claims, about $16 million is expected from homeowners' policies and about $3 million from automobile policies. Chaney says Mississippi Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co. and USAA report the most claims.